Come Hell or High Water
by Niephora
Summary: A prequel to We Are Thieves, this is the story of how Kat falls for the one man in the world she would be a fool to love. A collection of the most important moments of their relationship and life together.
1. Goodbye

_**No excuse for my abandoning you will suffice so I won't insult you all by trying to give one. Please forgive my dropping of the face of the earth when I had promised you an explanation. Better late than never, so here it is.**_

A normal girl would have walked through her boyfriend's front door. But Kat wasn't a normal girl, she was a thief. Though, that was not the reason she snuck in through the window on that chilled fall night.

Hale's mansion didn't feel like home. It hadn't for several months. Somehow, when she wasn't looking, time had passed and she grown further and further away from Hale.

When they were younger, Hale was always there with a firm grip on Kat, lest she fall or try and run away again. He was as close as a person could get to Katarina Bishop. He was Hale. There were no words to describe him other than his name. No definition for the emotions and gratitude Kat felt towards him.

Over time, Hale's firm grip on Kat had lessened. It became harder and harder to speak like they used to. Emotions changed. Time passed. Hearts broke.

It was almost painful for Kat to speak to him now, because every time she did she was reminded of what it used to be like, compared to what it was now. Their relationship seemed like a hollow, sickly version of it's former self.

This was why, on that night Kat snuck into her boyfriend's house. She knew full well that she could have used the front door. But the front door was for guests, family. Kat was a stranger.

A surge of melancholy rushed through her as Kat crossed the threshold of the house through the same window she had used on the night she first met Hale. Sadly the warm memory only worsened her craving for the old days. Kat felt homesick for a time long passed. One she could never get back. As all thieves know, time is the one thing you can't steal.

Kat stood in the open door way to Hale's bedroom. His sleeping form lay tucked under the sheets. Hale's broad chest rose and fell at a steady rate.

Kat's thoughts traveled back through the last few months. Everything had changed. She hadn't even been aware of the shift until it had happened. What had once felt like warm sunlight was now cold and unnatural.

Hale shifted and seemed to rise to consciousness.

"Kat?" He called. She wasn't sure if he was awake or dreaming. But she knew one thing. Kat wanted to be near him again. Touching Hale wouldn't bring him back to her, not really, but Kat needed to be close to him once more. If only physically.

Katarina moved silently across the room and slipped in beside him. Her cold fingertips on his chest woke Hale.

"You're here." Hale said with a sleepy smile. His hair was a mess in that sexy sort of way. Hale looked gorgeous, even when half asleep, but something was missing from his smile. It's absence felt like a punch in Kat's gut.

"I'm here." Kat assured him in a whisper.

Hale shifted to wrap his arms around her. Coddled in his embrace, Kat relaxed slightly and rested her head on his bare chest.

"How was the Dubai job?" Hale yawned.

"The usual." Kat admitted. "Did the partners agree to sign the contract?"

"It took some persuasion, but they caved eventually."

If felt as though their lives were separate. In truth, they were. Hale had more and more responsibilities within the company and now came on less and less heists. They couldn't be seen together; lest one of Hale's business competitors find out he was dating a criminal mastermind and use it against him. Kat and the crew were constantly flying around the world looking for new heists, which left little time for simply being together.

It was as though they lived in two different universes that only connected when Kat and Hale were alone. Now a days, Kat wasn't sure they were connected at all.

The same thought must have been on Hale's mind as well because after a moment of silence he whispered. "I miss you."

"What do you mean? I'm right here." She tired to smile.

"You know what I mean, Kat."

Another moment of silence passed before Kat said. "I miss you too."

He sighed. "This isn't going to work, is it?" Hale soundly utterly defeated.

"No. It's not." There was no fighting what was happening. No way to fix it.

"Will you hate me if I say I just want to be friends?" Hale teased. He was trying to make light of the situation.

Kat punched him in the side, but couldn't help but smile slightly at the cliché.

"Really though, Kat. We'll still be friends right? I don't think I could stand to loose you entirely."

"Yes, Hale. We'll still be friends." Kat couldn't loose him either.

"Good."

They had shifted so that Kat no longer laid her head on his chest. Instead they lay facing each other, holding hands.

As they drifted together closer to sleep, Hale's firm grip on Kat had lessened to the point where only their fingertips touched. Hale was close, yet so far away. It wasn't a lover that lay beside Kat now, but a friend she couldn't live without. Kat couldn't help but feel like this is how it should be.

"You know I'll always love you, Kat." Hale whispered.

"And I'll always love you…. Wyatt?"

Hale chuckled softly. "Guess again."

And that was how they slipped from consciousness, playing the guessing game they had for years. Kat and Hale's fingertips stayed laced together, even as they slept.

It was the last time they would lay down and dream together. The last time Kat would wake up to see the rays of golden sun shinning through the window to illuminate Hale's face.

She rose that morning before Hale woke. Kat studied his sleeping face for a few moments before forcing herself to get out of bed. She took one last look at the sleeping man and whispered "Goodbye, Hale." Then she did what thieves do best, what she had been doing her entire life. Katarina Bishop disappeared into the shadows of the world.

_**As always, I would love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to review. -A very sorry Niephora**_


	2. Tokyo

"Let's grab some sushi." Jake said as they passed a restaurant.

"Not now." Nick Bennett walked ahead at a brisk pace.

"Come on, man. You can't come to Tokyo and not try the dragon rolls."

"We're here to work, remember? Not for your stomach." Nick reminded his partner.

"Maybe you're here to work, but I'm here for the sushi." Jacob Frank had been Nick's partner for almost two years now. The two were as close as brothers, but still held opposing viewpoints on consuming raw fish wrapped in seaweed. Jake and Nick worked together for Interpol, the international criminal police organization. They tracked down criminals at large and, on occasion, flew half way around the world in the attempt.

"Seriously, Bennett. You work too hard. You've got to stop and smell to cherry blossoms. You know, try the local cuisine, exchange some culture." Jake winked at a few passing local women.

Nick pulled open the door to Sato Industries Headquarters. "Let's just get inside before you manage tick off some local fathers."

Interpol had been called in to investigate a break in at Sato Headquarters that happened a few days prior. Although there were many priceless prototypes around the building nothing had been taken. What was really usual though was that the thieves just appeared on surveillance cameras on the hundred and fourteenth floor. There was no video of them entering or leaving the building. The thieves appeared from the elevator and then proceeded to scour the empty floor, never attempting to steal anything at all. They then reentered the elevator but when the elevator reached the lobby, they had again disappeared. Nothing was taken, nothing was moved and seemingly, they had never been there. Yet the cameras showed that they had.

"Thank you for coming, gentleman." Mr. Sato himself had come to meet the Interpol agents. After shaking hands, Nick and Jake searched the hundred and fourteenth floor for clues as to how the thieves, who weren't really thieves at all, had vanished. They watched the videos several times but came up short.

"On the phone your assistant said that nothing had been taken." Nick said.

"Yes. It was very strange. Nothing had even been touched."

"Sir, with all due respect, why bring Interpol into this when there hasn't been a crime?" Jake asked.

"A precaution. Who ever these people are, they went to great lengths to break into this building and it couldn't have been without cause. My head of security is worried that this may be just a first attempt."

"You believe they'll come back?" Jake asked.

"Yes. That is the fear. We had hoped that Interpol might find something we had missed."

Nick regarded the video once again. Two silhouettes moved across the cameras scope, clothed completely from head to toe. "Without a clear image of the face we have no real way of identifying them. And these don't seem like the type of people to leave fingerprints."

"All we have is the audio." Mr. Sato admitted. "I've had my best people try to enhance it but not much of it is useful. We believe one of the thieves is named Visily Romani."

Nick's gaze shot towards the businessman. "What did you say?"

"Visily Romani. The thieves mentioned the name several times while searching the rooms."

Jake looked quizzically at his partner. "That mean something to you?"

"It did. A long time ago." Nick's mind was drawn back to a vision of striking blue eyes.

"Care to share, Bennett?" Jake asked.

He dismissed it with a wave. "It's not relevant."

When the two Interpol Agents had finished their investigation Mr. Sato invited them to dine with him in the company's in-house gourmet restaurant just a few floors bellow.

As they ate the sun set on the skyline of Tokyo and the city came to life. Thousands of bright lights illuminated the black night. Jake and Mr. Sato discussed some of the city's main attractions while Nick gazed out the window. Skyscrapers towered hundreds of stories above the pulsing crowds of people bellow. Tokyo was a city of glass giants.

The conversations halted in the dinning room as outside the window, shattered glass fell from above. Everyone's utensils paused in confusion.

"What was that?" Mr. Sato's brow furrowed in concern.

"It came from a few floors up." Nick processed the information faster than Jake and was up and running before his partner had time to blink. "Come on!" Nick shouted over his shoulder.

Jake groaned as he put down his delicious wine to run. "I hate my job."

The two men bolted up four flights of stairs to arrive at the same floor that had been broken into a few days prior. Immediately they noticed the shattered window. Wind whipped through the space, sending papers flying through the air like panicked birds.

It took Nick's eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the night. Then he saw them. Two figures dressed in black had zip lined from the window to one in the adjacent building. They disappeared from sight just as Mr. Sato had reached the window.

Nick had to yell over the violent winds. "Mr. Sato, what building is that? Who owns it?"

"It's the Ochi Bank." He replied, obviously confused.

"Sato Industries wasn't the target, Sir. Then bank was." Jake clarified for the dazed man.

"What do we do?" He asked.

"Get to the roof." Nick yelled and he was off and running again.

"What? Why?" Jake asked. Then he spotted the helicopter nearing the roof of the bank. "Oh, that's why."

Nick broke open the roof door with his shoulder and moved towards the south side. The helicopter circled the bank, waiting impatiently. Appearing from an air vent, Nick could see the two figures in black climbing onto the roof with large duffle bags in their arms. A man and a petite woman sprinted across the roof towards the waiting chopper. The violent winds whipped the hoods off of their suits as they ran.

Seven Years. The last time he had seen her face was seven years before that night.

Katarina Bishop had come through his life like an uncontrollable hurricane. In those weeks Nick had spent in her presence, she had swept him into her insane world and changed him forever. After she disappeared, the evidence of her passing, the broken branches and rain soaked soil, lay all around him. But time passed, the trees grew new branches, the sun dried the earth, and there were times when Nick wondered if it had all happened. Had he really been in the eye of the hurricane, or was it just a dream?

It was during those times that Nick sat at his desk for hours, long after everyone else had gone home, and he held the case file in his hands. The Henley robbery. One of the best, cleanest heists the world has ever seen. Nick didn't reread the file; he already knew every word and detail it contained. Instead he just held it in his hands. It was physical proof that she existed. Kat was flesh and blood. He had touched her skin and kissed her lips. But she moved like the winds of a storm. Never still or constant. Seven years ago Nick Bennett realized that no matter how badly you want to, you can't catch the wind.

There she was. A silhouette against the backdrop of the city's nighttime glow. They stood on two different rooftops, a hundred feet away from each other, but Nick could feel her on his skin. She turned in his direction and stopped. At that moment he was sure. He knew she could see him through the dark night and chaotic flashing lights. In an instant, it was seven years ago, and they stood together in the back halls of the Henley museum. Some memories never fade or lessen.

They were a hundred feet apart, and worlds away from one another but Nick could swear her sharp blue eyes bore into his. Nothing but air stood between them and yet Nick had no way of getting to her. She was so close. So very close and still he could not reach her.

Breaking from the trance, Kat ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped. For a terrifying moment her small being was suspended over the blazing city of glass before Kat landed in the chopper. Once again, Nick watched in torment as Katarina Bishop, one of the most wanted thieves in the world, disappeared off into the corners of existence where he could not hope reach her.

Kat's icy blue gaze had pierced through Nick's beating chest and embedded itself into his blood. He knew then that he would not, could not endure another seven years of chasing shadows. Nick would find Katarina Bishop. He had to.

**_I'd be lovely to hear your thoughts so please leave me a review. I'd love to put some names to the numbers on my stats so even if its just to say hi I would greatly appreciate it. -Niephora_**


	3. Find Her

Ms. Kent, Nick and Jake's direct superior had called an emergency meeting the morning they had gotten back to Paris about the events on the roof in Tokyo. The room was crowded with some of Interpol's highest-ranking officials.

Near the head of the table Nick's mother, Amelia Bennett, one of Interpol's most prominent figures, sat surveying the room. She radiated power and confidence, as any woman who worked as hard as she did deserved to. There was no questioning she was dedicated. Amelia Bennett had given all her life to Interpol, including her son.

Nick and Jake walked into the room just as the Kent was starting to debrief the officials.

"At 10:26 local time the suspects somehow gained access to the hundred and fourteenth floor of the Sato Building. From there they reached the bank. Local officials are still going over the scene to determine exactly how they got into the Sato building in the first place. But the damage is already done. They made off with 4 million. Two of our people where there at the time. Agents Bennett and Frank witnessed the suspects escaping onto the roof and then making a get away in a helicopter."

A clip from a surveillance video showed the crew running across the roof.

"Ours boys were there to investigate the attempted robbery that had happened in the neighboring tower. It now appears that the robbery had been a set up operation for this later, much larger robbery."

"How did they get from one tower to the other." A man in the back asked.

"A zip line." Kent replied

"100 floors up?" One of the officials snorted. "They've got guts."

"Or they're just insane." Another man added.

Kent nodded. "It's clear that these people are professionals. They left no fingerprints, or evidence behind. It was a clean, calculated job. We know next to nothing about these people. What we were able to discern from the surveillance tapes is that they were led by this woman." The screen froze on a video of a petite woman running across the roof. Her bright blue eyes seemed to be starring directly at the camera.

"Who is she?" One of the officials asked.

"We don't know yet, we're running a facial recognition-" Kent replied.

"Her name is Katarina Bishop." Nick broke in. Every eye in the room turned to him. "She's a criminal mastermind and a very talented thief." Normally lower ranking agents did not speak during these meetings and he would be sure to here about this later from Kent.

Kent starred daggers at Nick. "And how do you know this, Bennett?" She asked pointedly.

"I saw her on the roof, ma'am."

"How can you be sure? That it's her, I mean." The balding official asked.

"I would know her face anywhere." There was no doubt in Nick's mind.

Then Kent asked the question they were all wondering. "Bennett, how exactly do you know this Katarina Bishop?"

"I was part of her crew." He replied simply.

The affect on the room was immediate. Some gasped, others whispered. Beside Nick, Jake was shaking his head in warning. Admitting to Interpol that you were once part of a crime ring was not the smartest idea in Jake's book.

Even Kent was surprised. "What?"

Out of the corner of he eye Nick could see his mother rubbing her temples, undoubtedly thinking to herself 'not this story again'. She had never believed him. Not really.

Nick elaborated. "When I was sixteen I joined her crew under the pretense that I was a skilled pick pocket. They needed an extra pair of hands for a job and I fit the bill. I was with the crew for several weeks, during which time I attempted to gather incriminating evidence about Katarina Bishop and her father. My plan backfired." He admitted reluctantly.

Jake finished the story for him. "She found out his intentions and left him high and dry in the middle of the Henley during a robbery." Jake had always been amused by the story's end. It wasn't often his partner was bested by a thief and Jake would have loved to have been there to have seen Nick's face.

Nick shrugged. "I underestimated her. It's a mistake I won't make again."

"Let me get this straight." The balding official said. "You stole from the Henley, and now you work at Interpol? Well, Ms. Kent you certainly have a crack team here."

Before Kent could defend herself, Nick corrected him. "Actually Sir we didn't steal _from_ the Henley, we stole _at_ the Henley." When the room just starred at him in silence, Nick said. "It's a complicated story."

"Explain, Bennett. We'll try and keep up." Kent said dryly.

Nick elaborated on the finer details of the case. When he had finished retelling the events of seven years ago, the room stood in a stunned silence for a few moments.

One of the officials, whom Nick would later find out was Mr. Carl Higgins, cleared his throat. "If you are correct Agent Bennett, that Bishop was responsible for this robbery, then it will be yet another large heist added to her already too long list. Katarina Bishop and her crew have gone too far. It's time we got our act together and put a stop to it."

"I agree whole-heartedly, sir." Nick had wanted to bring Kat down from the moment he laid eyes on her and her crew.

"So am I correct in assuming that you know Bishop quite well? You could anticipate her next move?"

"I don't believe anyone truly knows Katarina Bishop, sir. She's… well, complicated to say the least. But yes, I have a better understanding of her than most."

"Alright then, you're heading this case." He said definitively.

Nick looked to Kent for confirmation. Reluctantly she agreed.

For Nick and Jake this would be a big boost in their careers, but that wasn't what had Nick's heart pumping. After seven years, Nick would finally see Kat again. He would be able to prove to himself that she was real. That at one point in time he had stood by her side and held her face between his palms. Now he would put her behind bars.

"You'll have access to any of Interpol's resources that you require. Bishop has been at large for far too long. Find her as quickly as possible. Recover the stolen goods if you can, but remember, Bishop and her associates are priority."

"Of course, sir."

The officials and their many assistants dispersed and as the last of them departed, Nick was left to face Kent. He had expected her to be boiling with rage over his interruption; instead she silently frowned at the two men. They all knew that she had no power to take Nick off the case, even if she wanted to. From day one, Kent had had it out for Nick. She saw him as just an arrogant, reckless man who only got his job because of his mother's position in Interpol. Even when Nick had proven to be a hard worker, and even somewhat obsessed with his job, Kent refused to change her mind about him.

"Listen up, boys." Her face was stony and cold. "You may be heading this manhunt but don't think for a second the rest of Interpol isn't watching you. This could be your big break, Agents. So don't mess it up." With that warning the wicked witch flew out of the room, leaving Jake and Nick in her wake.

"She loves us." Jake said. "She just won't admit it."

"I think I'd be even more frightened if she did." Nick turned back to the screen where Kat's image was frozen in motion. "Kent's right though. This isn't like any case we've ever done before."

Jake flipped open the first file on a large pile in the center of the conference table and sighed. "Then we'd better get started."

_**I hope you like it. Next chapter will be up Friday. I'm trying for a Tuesday and Friday schedule for this story. Please review! -Niephora**_


	4. Catch Me If You Can

**AN:Okay so I know there hasn't been any real romance yet but all good things come in time. This isn't a story I want to rush so please be patient with me. Thank you so much to The Inked Pen and DorkQueen for reviewing! I was thrilled to hear from you again The Inked Pen as I greatly appreciated all your reviews on my last fan fiction. To the DorkQueen: Thanks so much for your constructive criticism, its really helpful so keep it coming. I'm having a hard time with the whole Nick and Jake partner thing as I've always struggled with creating believable relationships in my writing :S which is problematic considering this entire story is about the formation of Kat and Nick's relationship. Once again thanks for the reviews and keep writing them because they always make my day. **

Jake and Nick had been gathering evidence surrounding Katarina Bishop and her crew for the past week. They knew as much as there was to know about all of her heists yet they were no closer to locating Kat.

Jake tossed the last file onto the seemingly ever-growing pile of files on Nick's cubicle desk. "Alright so how do we find her?"

"No idea." Nick began to pace the small space.

"What?" Jake sat up straight. "You said you knew this girl! This is why the board gave us the case, you were supposed-"

"I do know Katarina Bishop!" Nick protested. "And it's because I know her so well I know that we'll never find Kat. She's not just some common criminal. This girl is brilliant, Jake. She knows all the tricks. Which means she'll always know exactly where to hide so that we can't find her."

"She's got to have something she returns to, right? Something or some place that's like home. If we can find that then we find her. Did she ever mention having a home?"

Nick snorted. "She didn't exactly trust me, Jake."

"With good reason." He retorted.

"But there was one place. I never found out where it was. It belonged to her Uncle or something."

"That's a start. We find her Uncle's place, we find her."

"Nah, who do you think Kat learned all the tricks from? We'll never find that place if they don't want us to."

"If we track her footprints enough we might get an idea of where the place is. Narrow the search. Maybe she'll lead us to it."

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe someone else will." Nick stalked towards the board on the wall. Grainy pictures of Katarina Bishop in various disguises where pinned across the cork, but one photo in particular caught Nick's attention. Standing next to Kat in the black and white photo was someone Nick hadn't thought about in a long time.

"I know that look." Jake pointed to him accusingly. "That's the 'I'm about to be a shit disturber' look. You've got an idea."

Nick smirked. "Just thought I might go visit an old friend of mine."

"Friend? Since when you have friends?" Jake teased.

"Well," Nick chuckled. "He's more of an associate."

"Does to associate have a gun? Because the last time we went to go see one of your contacts I nearly lost a kidney."

"Don't be dramatic. It was just a scratch." Nick grabbed his coat. "Come on mate, we're losing day light."

"Where are we going?" Jake jogged after him.

"New York."

* * * New York * * *

"You can't go in there!" The secretary squeaked as Nick and Jake passed her by.

Jake flashed her his badge. "Interpol."

Nick flung open the large doors to reveal an even larger office. A group of men in expensive suits sat around a conference table. They all looked over, annoyed by the interruption.

"Sorry for the trouble gentlemen. We've got a few questions for Mr. Hale."

A blond man looked up sharply. A look of outrage flashed across his face before he gained control of his emotions and the slick, business-like expression returned.

"Please excuse us gentlemen. We'll pick this meeting up later." He said. The crowd shuffled reluctantly out of the room, eyeing the two officers.

When the door had closed behind them Hale turned towards the men and offered out his hand to shake. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Nick and Jake shared a look but they each in turn shook his hand.

"We have a few questions concerning the whereabouts of a friend of yours." Jake played along with the charade.

"Is that so?" Hale smiled coolly. He was intent on keeping up the businessman façade. "Of course I will help you in any way that I can."

"Let's cut the bullshit, Hale. You know why we're here." Nick had lost his patience; something never had much to begin with.

Hale's mask broke and he glared at Nick. "Never would have thought you would have had the nerve to show your face around here, Bennett."

Jake snorted. "You'd be surprised what he's got the guts for."

"I work for Interpol now." Nick challenged. "So I believe it's you that should be afraid of me, not the other way around, Mate."

Jake broke in now. "Personal grudges aside. We need you're help to find a wanted criminal."

"Where's your girlfriend?" Nick asked abruptly.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Hale answered coolly.

"Like hell you don't."

"Shoot me if I'm lying, Bennett. I don't have a girlfriend." Hale spoke through his teeth.

The fact dawned on Nick for a moment and then he was grinning. "She dumped you didn't she?" Hale just glared at him. "She did! Did she leave you locked in a museum too?"

"You and Kat were never together." Hale snarled.

"Ah," Jake cut in. "So you do know a woman named Kat."

"I know a lot of woman." Hale waved him off casually. "You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"Stop lying, Hale." Nick said. "You and I both know there is no way to forget a girl like Katarina Bishop. So quit playing with me."

For a moment there was just thick silence in the air. Nick and Hale glared across the room at each other.

A sharp tone of a cell phone ringer broke through the silence. Jake answered the phone and stepped out of the conversation.

Hale sighed deeply and sat down behind his desk. "I don't know where she is." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I haven't seen her in months."

"I don't believe you." Nick said.

"That's not my problem." Hale brushed him off. "Even if I did know where she was, which I don't, I would never tell you."

Jake snapped the phone shut. "Well we don't need you to." He turned to his partner. "We got her." Nick grinned in return.

"What?" Hale looked startled as the two men suddenly turned towards the door.

"Thanks for your help." Nick called over his shoulder as he swept out of the room. He didn't have to look behind him to know that Hale had frantically picked up his phone.

As they walked down the hall Jake spoke to Nick in a hushed tone. "Think he bought it?"

He nodded. "If there is even a slight chance that Kat's in trouble, he'll go to her. Or at least warn her. We've got the phone tapped right?"

"Yeah. The tech guys are on it."

Nick smiled triumphantly. "And now we wait for him to lead us to her."

* * * Three Days Later * * * Brooklyn, New York * * *

"Ready?" Jake asked as he strapped his bulletproof vest on.

"I've been chasing her for seven years. I'm ready."

"Then, let's go."

A few days ago Nick and his partner had set a trap for Hale, making him believe that Kat's location had been compromised. As expected, Hale had made several calls to a place in New York just a few minutes after they had left, trying to warn Kat of the danger. By following a paper trail, Interpol had found another building in Brooklyn that they were positive Katarina Bishop was now residing in.

Gun in hand, Nick kicked in the door and proceeded to search the rooms. His team followed him, shouting orders to an empty house. Every room was entirely bare. No furniture, no people, no signs of life.

"Bennett!" Jake called from another room. Nick entered the room to see Jake standing in front of a single empty frame hanging on the wall. Painted in the empty space on the wall were the words "Catch me if you can –K."

Nick punched the wall. "Damn it!" He screamed. "She knew we were coming!"

"How did she figure it out?" Jake asked in confusion.

"I told you. I told them all. Katarina Bishop is brilliant, Jake. She knew all along. In fact, she probably never even lived here! Damn it all!" Nick thought he had her but once again Kat had slipped from his grasp.

The place was dusted for prints and combed over for evidence, but Nick knew it would come up clean. Kat was anything but sloppy.

Nick stood in the room for hours, starring intently at the words scrawled inside the frame. He looked at it until he had memorized every curve and curl of the letters, until he could envision her writing it. The last letter seemed to fade at the end, as if it disappeared with her, into the shadows. Nick stood there for so long he felt as though he might fade away with it.

"Where are you, Kat?" He whispered. "Where are you hiding?"

The words 'catch me if you can' taunted him, as she knew they would. They rang through his mind again and again. Standing in that room in Brooklyn Nick swore to himself that he would find her. He would chase Katarina Bishop until his dying breath. Come hell or high water.

**AN:Yeah, finally got to the title line! As always, thank you most sincerely for reading and please don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts. -Niephora**


	5. You Can't Steal Time

**AN:Helllo! So to say that I found this particular chapter challenging would be an understatement. I've been wrestling with this one for some time now and I'm still not content with it but I promised to update every teusday and friday so here it is in all its irritating glory. Tell me what you honestly think of. I promise I won't be wounded. Thank you once again to The Inked Pen and DorkQueen for reviewing. Sorry about the slip up with the hair colour thing. If any of you every catch one of those errors in my writing please do let me know. Sometimes I don't fact check enough. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!**

Kat stepped in through the red doorway of the old Brooklyn brownstone. She smiled at the sight of her old friend. "Hale." He was so busy lately with the company that she hadn't seen him in months. The entire crew sitting around the table was a welcome sight. One, it felt, she had almost forgotten.

"Where have you been?" Hale demanded. His brow was furrowed, as it always did when he was worried.

"What's wrong?" Kat asked as she hung up her coat. The entire crew was looking at her now with relief.

"We hadn't heard from you in weeks, and-"

Gabrielle cut off Hamish. "How was Poland?" She asked casually.

"It went as planned. You didn't miss anything thrilling." Kat headed to the kitchen to pour herself some coffee.

"We thought you might have gotten caught." Simon explained the concerned expressions.

"It wasn't exactly a challenging job. They barely had any security guarding the statue…"

"You should make contact with us more often, Kat. You can't just drop off the face of the earth like that." Hale was irritated.

Kat's gaze narrowed. "I can't, can I?" The table went silent around them as Kat and Hale starred each other down.

"You know that's not what I meant." Hale said quietly in a voice so forceful it could move mountains.

But it would not move her. Kat crossed her arms. "So next time I should check in with you every half hour, is that right? I don't see what good that would do, considering you're so busy. I doubt you'd even have time to pick up the phone when I called."

Angus broke in before the situation could escalate from potentially explosive to atomic. "We were all worried, Kat. That's all."

"You're on Interpol's most wanted." Simon said. "They've set up an investigation to track you down."

"Nick Bennett is heading the witch hunt." Hale said with disgust.

Kat grabbed herself a mug from the old cupboards and poured herself some coffee. "I know." She said simply.

"See, I told you all she would know." Gabrielle smiled sweetly at Kat. "Because I know my cousin."

Kat paused with her mug mid way to her lips and raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Gabrielle. "What do you want, Gabs?" She asked skeptically.

"Diamond heist in London. I need someone small to fit through the vents."

"When?"

"Next week." Hamish said. "Does this mean you're in?"

Kat hated air vents. As she was the only one in the crew small enough to fit into them the task always fell to her.

"Pretty please, kitty Kat." Gabs formed her full lips into a pout.

"Alright," Kat groaned "fine. But only if you promise to stop calling me Kitty Kat. I'm nearly 23."

Gabrielle smiled and turned back to her magazine. "Sure thing, Kitty Kat."

Hale steered the conversation back to its original path. "What do you mean you already knew?"

"I knew Nick and his blood hounds were following my trail so sent them in the other direction." Kat joined the crew at the table.

"When did you find out about the investigation?" Angus asked. "We only just heard about it a few days ago."

"I figured they would be looking for the crew after Tokyo." Kat sipped her coffee as Simon handed her the blueprints for the upcoming diamond heist.

"You were in Tokyo?" Hale looked in confusion at the faces around the table.

"We would have invited you, mate." Angus said apologetically.

"But you had that big board meeting." Hamish finished for him.

"What does this have to do with Tokyo?" Simon asked without looking up from his computer.

"Wait a minute," Gabrielle put her magazine down and turned to Kat. "That man on the roof? Was that him?"

Kat nodded. "You didn't recognize him?"

Gabrielle and the Bagshaw brothers shook their heads.

"Neither did I." Simon said.

"Simon, you weren't even there." Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"I know, but sometimes I feel so left out of these things, you know, never really being there. Always just behind the computer."

Hale pressed on. "So you saw Bennett? And he didn't catch you?"

"There was a hundred story drop between us." Kat explained.

"I still can't believe that was him." Gabrielle purred. "Who would have thought Nicky Boy would have grown up into Mr. Tall, Blond and Gorgeous."

Hale ignored her comment. "He came to visit me at work the other day. Walked right into my meeting."

Hamish whistled. "He's got more guts than I do. I'll give him that."

"A sock has more guts than you do." Angus said.

Hale continued before the brothers could start an all out teasing war. "He made it sound as if he knew where you were."

Kat shook her head. "It was just a stupid trick, Hale. He never found me." She assured him.

"Still," Simon broke in. "You should be careful, Kat. He's obviously out for revenge."

"He almost caught us last time." Hale reminded her. Nick had indeed almost played them all during the Henley heist, and it was sheer luck that Kat had noticed him in the background of the photo and made the connection to Interpol. "We can't afford to let him get that close again."

Kat's expression became very determined. "I won't."

"We should get to work on these plans if we want to pull the London job next week." Simon said as he distributed the blueprints to those partaking. The subject of Nick Bennett and Interpol was dropped for the moment as the thieves returned to their work.

Kat got up to get another cup of coffee and Hale joined her in the kitchen.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Kat." He said softly. "I was just worried about you."

"I know, Hale. But I can take care of myself."

"That doesn't stop me from worrying." Hale loved her. And Kat loved him. Nothing and no one in the world would change that. They might not have been made to be with one another, but that didn't meant they loved one another any less.

"Are you sure you can't come to London?" Kat asked. She nodded towards the others. "We miss having you as part of the crew."

"I can't. I'm sorry. I've got the factory inspections starting in a few days and I can't miss them." Seeing the look of disappointment in Kat's eyes, Hale said. "You know I would be there if I could."

"I understand. We all do. Its just not the same as it used to be and I guess I miss it." Kat admitted. She remembered a time, before they robbed the Henley and despite how stressed and scared she had been then, some part of her wanted it back.

Hale smiled sadly and kissed her forehead. "I miss you too, Kitty Kat." He whispered before turning to head out the familiar red door. Kat returned to the table where her crew waited for her, but she couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before they all disappeared as well to their separate lives and she would be all that remained of what once had been.

* * * London * * * A Few Days Later * * *

Kat had finished casing the building that the crew would soon rob of all its diamonds and started the walk back just as night descended on the city. Kat meant to find her way back to the hotel, but instead ended up wandering the streets of London, immersed in her own thoughts.

Some invisible force pulled at the center of Kat's chest. Like a sailboat in the wind, the feeling guided Kat along the nighttime streets of London. Without realizing it Kat had drifted through the sea of voices and lights to familiar waters.

When she woke from her thoughts, Kat found herself on a corner she had visited a thousand times in her memories. It had been seven years since she had last rounded this corner. Though Kat knew what lay around its familiar curve, she had no inclination as to who waited there.

She moved forward, around the bend and into the dream like images of her past. There the Henley stood in all its subtle glory. Anyone who came to London knew about the famous museum and had they not known it already they would certainly hear the story of the mysterious robbery by one Visily Romani. Everyone knew the story. Few knew the truth.

The Henley hoarded the tales of thieves deep within it's stonewalls. It had been seven years but Kat could swear she could still smell the smoke in the air. Some part of her cells remembered the thrill of it all and even all these years later she could feel the spark of adrenaline race through her skin once more.

Kat froze in the glow of the street lamps. A man sat on a bench regarding the museum, much like she had been. In an instant Kat realized she wasn't the only one in that street that could see the secrets within the stones.

Nick Bennett sat not fifty feet away, observing the Henley in all its quiet magnificence.

Kat could only see the back of his head but his mess of hair was enough for her to be certain it was him. Nick was blissfully unaware of her presence. The mischievous waves of fate had thrown the two of them together once again and now the hunter and the hunted were separated only by fifty feet of cobblestone.

For a moment, time forgot itself and Kat found she was starring into its rift. Being so close to him, in this familiar place, it was as if by some cruel trick of the universe seven years had vanished from existence and all was as it once had been.

In this moment of time's forgetfulness, Kat almost believed that if she were to call out his name, Nick would turn around and smile playfully at her, as he did before she had discovered who he really was. Before time and distance and occupations had taken life and morphed it into something else. Something cold and unfamiliar.

If Nick turned around he would be sure to see her and everything Kat was would vanish behind steal bars. Katarina should have run as fast as she could, like any sane thief would have done. Instead she stood starring at the back of a man's head thinking to herself how completely insane it was that she was still standing there. Still, something pulled her towards him.

She should run…Kat took a step forward.

If he saw her, Kat would be arrested… Another step closer.

This was dangerous… One more.

This was insane… Placing one foot in front of the other Kat moved silently towards the man on the bench.

Katarina Bishop hated Nick. He had fooled her. He had betrayed her. He was the enemy of everything that she was, of everything she hoped to be.

Kat hated Nick.

This she repeated in her thoughts over and over as she allowed herself to be pulled forward by the insistent waves of fate. Standing only a few feet behind him, Kat paused.

Nick's name balanced itself on the edge of Kat's lips like a raindrop, threatening to tumble into the air. Kat's fingertips stretched longingly towards the boy on the bench, towards the past.

Maybe if she just touched him, just spoke to Nick she would be able to go back. Back to the years of her youth when everything was certain and all the world was new. Back to the golden age when her crew was still intact. Back to the time when Kat hadn't felt so entirely alone. She just wanted to go back.

Nick thought that he had heard someone exhale behind him, but when he turned around there was no one there. He started to turn back around but then paused. The air was thick with something. A presence that he hadn't felt in years. He saw and heard and felt nothing, but his mind seemed to sense that the air in that particular spot was thick with something. Someone. As if all these years later her breath still clung to the air.

With uncertainty Nick reached out towards the empty night, grasping for something that had once been but was no longer. All too quickly the sensation vanished and he was again alone in the darkness.

Nick didn't know why he sat there, tormenting himself with the ghosts of the past. He only knew that these ghost were all he had left and he couldn't bare to let them go.

**AN: Next Chapter will be up friday. Please review! It makes me very happy when you do :) -Niephora**


	6. Kat and Mouse

**AN: Next update should be on Tuesday. Don't forget to review!**

Six months into the investigation Nick and Jake had few leads. Every attempt to trap Kat had been futile. She remained one step ahead at all times and Nick was left to chase her shadow. The case seemed to be going nowhere and the agent's superiors were getting restless.

Nick and his partner had resorted to digging through the files once more and attempting to trace Kat's movements around the globe. This was no easy task as ghosts leave few footprints that the common men may follow.

On a morning much like any other, the agents had been called into Kent's office where they were given the usual pep talk. Naturally Kent's version of a pep talk was to demand answers that they simply didn't have and then proceed to threaten their careers and livelihood. Jake had then left in search of a much-needed coffee. All in all it was a usual day until Amelia Bennett, Nick's mother, came walking down the rows of cubicles to reach Nick's measly little desk.

"What's the occasion?" He asked. It was rare that Nick saw his mother at all these days, let alone at work.

She smiled. "Can't a Mom check up on her son once in a while?"

Nick had to suppress a laugh. Amelia Bennett was first and foremost an agent. There was no question that she loved her son, but she was hardly the type of mother to worry about her child day in and day out.

Throughout all his childhood, one value had been instilled within Nick, justice. Justice above personal loyalties. Justice above greed. And when it was necessary, justice above love.

Every missed football game, every forgotten birthday were all in service of a higher calling. This was why when he was sixteen years old, Nick had infiltrated Katarina Bishop's crew and attempted to catch them red handed. He had done it for her. So that his mother might sleep at night knowing some good had been done. So that she might have had the time to pause in her pursuit of justice just long enough to tell her son that she loved him.

Amelia Bennett was a courageous woman and a dedicated agent. But she was not a 'Mom'.

"What is it really?" Nick asked.

"I wanted to see how the case was coming." She picked up Jake's notepad off the desk and examined its contents. "And to bring you the files on the Robert Bishop case. The information may be outdated but you might find some of it useful."

"Thank you." Nick took the papers from her and placed them carefully on top of one of the many stacks. This file was what had haunted his mother for years. Nick now understood how she had felt every time Bishop slipped away.

"What's your angle?" She inquired.

"Right now we're mapping out her past heists. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the locations that might point us in the right direction."

"Have you tried going through the associates?"

"We attempted to use her connection with her old boyfriend, but she saw through it. Jake is going to go through the other crewmembers next. Although I doubt they will be any easier to track than she is."

Amelia scrutinized the notes they had written on the white board as she said "Sooner or later one of them will slip up. That's when we grab them."

"I'll be ready when they do." Failure was no longer an option for Nick. "I'm going to track her down."

Bennett looked at her son with something that almost resembled pride. "Do me a favour? Get her father while you're at it." She resigned from the conversation and left to get to her next meeting.

A few minutes later Jake arrived with a coffee for himself and a tea for Nick.

"Thanks, mate." Nick said gratefully talking the warm tea.

"I don't understand how you Brits drink that stuff. Its just water flavored with plants."

Nick smirked. "I hate to break it to you, but so is coffee."

"Yes, but coffee is the sweet elixir of life that keeps the blood pumping through my veins. Seriously, how do you live with out it?"

"I'm more interested to know how it is you get to sleep at night with that sludge in your system."

Jake got to work shifting through the stacks of files. "There is a simple explanation my friend. Decaf. I switch over after 6pm and I sleep like a baby. What did you do with that file?" He asked.

Nick surveyed the cascading piles of papers and files that covered every surface of his desk. "Yeah, you're going to have to be more specific. Which file?"

"The one that had all the tracking reports on those two brothers. You know the ones in the crew."

"The Bagshaw file?" Nick asked. "It's on top of the printer. Its in the stack with all the rest of the crew's files."

"What are you talking about? There's no stack on the printer."

"Sure, there is." Nick said. "I put it there last night before I left."

"I think you've finally gone crazy, man." Jake laughed. "There's nothing on the printer." Nick looked up from the paper he was reading and found that there was in fact nothing but air resting on the machine. "I put them on the printer." He insisted.

"Relax, you probably just moved them and forgot about it." The two men scoured through ever pile on the desk and surrounding floor. The Bagshaw report was nowhere to be found. After shuffling through the piles several times over it was clear that the file was gone.

"I don't understand where it could have gone." Nick ran a hand through his hair.

"Whoa, calm down now. No need to ruffle that perfect mane of yours." Jake poked fun at his partner. It was a long running joke between the two that no matter the circumstances, car chase, digging through a suspect's garbage, or getting interrogated by Kent, Nick's hair always seemed to be perfectly tossed. "Maybe it got mixed in with the outgoing mail by accident." Jake suggested.

Nick shook his head, ignoring the jab at his hair. "Someone in the mail room would have realized the mistake by now."

"We'd better find it soon. Kent will murder us if she hears we lost a confidential file."

Nick leaned back in his chair, trying to remember where he had moved the stupid file, when he spotted the security camera starring down at him from the ceiling. "What if we didn't lose it?"

Jake followed Nick's gaze to the ceiling. "There's no way." He shook his head in disbelief. "No, we just misplaced it. That's all. No, there's-This is Interpol Headquarters for crying out loud!"

Two hours later the partners sat in the security office rewinding the tapes to that morning.

"I don't know what you boys expect to find." Jim said. Jim Collins had been working for Interpol Headquarters security for twenty-seven years. Nothing and no one got passed him.

For the first few minutes the tape was, as they watched themselves reading through file after file. At 11:18 Kent had called the two men into her office for a progress report.

"There!" Jake said suddenly. "Rewind." They watched as at 11:19 am a petite brunette walked passed the desk and casually picked up the file on the printer. She appeared perfectly bored, as if this were her dull task, which she carried out everyday.

"Who is that?" Jim asked in confusion.

Only the back of the woman's head was visible from this frozen shot. "Do we have another angle? One with her face in it?" Nick asked, leaning towards the screen.

"No need. Look." Jim pressed play on the video and they watched as the woman turned around to leave. Her eyes flicked confidently up at the camera. The subtlest smirk played on her lips and a dancing light seemed to flicker in her eyes. Then Kat roamed, unnoticed, out of the office, down the elevator and out into the light of the world where she vanished among the crowds. The spirit had come once more to haunt Nick's world.

Soon after, the agents faced the terrifying task of informing Kent of Miss Bishop's unexpected visit.

At first she was silent, starring at the screen, then she spoke. "What was in the file?"

"It was the information on the Bagshaw brothers. They were part of her crew when I first met her. We had glanced through before but there must have been something we didn't see."

"Something that was worth risking everything for." Jake finished.

Nick sighed. "It was sitting there. Right there the entire time and then it just slipped away."

Kent studied the frozen video of Kat. "You're telling me that a wanted criminal just strolled into this building, picked up a file and then walked right out the front door?"

"The tapes don't lie." Jake replied.

Kent starred past them as the information sunk in. "Who the hell is this girl?" She asked, completely flabbergasted.

"I told the board that Bishop was tricky." Nick said.

"You never mentioned that she was outright mental!" Kent snapped. "What is she going to do next? Sit for tea with the head of the CIA?"

"The point is," He continued. "whatever was in that file was a threat to her. So much so that she felt she had to steal it right out from under us."

Having gotten over the initial shock of finding out that a wanted criminal had been wandering around her department, Kent's eyes narrowed like they always did when she was thinking deeply. "You believe that these 'Bagshaw Brothers' might lead us to her?" She asked him.

Nick nodded. "Why else would she have stolen the file?"

"I can think of a reason." Jake sat on the edge of Kent's desk.

"Franks." Kent said in a deadly calm tone.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Get your ass off my desk."

Jake jumped forward. "Sorry, boss!"

"Care to share?" Nick asked his partner.

"Just look at the video." He pointed toward the still image. "She looked directly at the camera."

Kat's blue eyes bore through the lens, as though they were seeing not just a camera but Nick himself. Her lips were turned up in a half smirk. Nick knew that this would be the image he would see late at night on the backs of his eyelids. Those crisp eyes and taunting smile.

"Yes, Franks, we've established that this woman is insane." Kent sighed. "Do you have any other observations for us?"

"She knew you would see this, Nick. What if this was just another trick to lead us in the wrong direction? What if she's just messing with you? Trying to get in your head."

Kent studied Nick's reaction before speaking. "Franks may be right. This could be another one of Bishop's games. But it is also the only thing we have to go on at the moment. Put your focus on finding these Bagshaws and they may well lead us to her."

"It's not likely that they even work together anymore." Jake pointed out. "All of our information says that for the past few years Bishop has worked primarily alone."

Kent raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any other leads, Franks?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then I don't think you have much of an option here. Find the Bagshaws. Report back to me when you do. The board has been very interested in this case and I would like to have something to provide them with at the next meeting. I suggest you two get to work."

The men turned to leave but Kent called after Nick, asking him to stay a moment.

"Is there something you wanted to say to me, Boss?" He asked with a clenched jaw.

Kent stared him down for a moment before she decided to speak. Kent had always held some disdain for Nick. That much was clear. "It's obvious that you and this criminal are playing some sort of mental game here but I'd like to remind you that Katarina Bishop and her crew have stolen millions of dollars in property."

Nick's blood began to boil in his veins. "Are you seriously suggesting that I'm not trying my damned hardest to catch her?"

"I don't think anyone would doubt that you are very involved in this case." Kent replied coldly.

"Then I don't see what the problem is."

"Keep in mind that this is an Interpol investigation, Bennett. Not your own personal game of Kat and Mouse. I am not confident that you should be handling this case."

Nick sighed as he sank back into the chair. "Okay, Kent, listen to me. You could put any one in this building on this investigation but you won't because you know that I am the only one here that knows this case inside and out. I know Katarina Bishop." He said definitively. "Which makes me the only person who can finish this case. Just let me do this."

"You tell me you can do this, Bennett. Prove it." Kent demanded. "Find her."

Kent had always known exactly how to agitate Nick. As he walked back to his small cubicle he was trying to talk himself out of going back to her office and giving her a piece of his mind.

Nick found himself walking the path Kat had taken to his desk, before she slid from view once more. He felt the same presence he had that night at the Henley and suddenly the air was too thick to breath. Nick need to be outside. He needed clean air.

"I'm going for a walk." He announced as he passed Jake.

"That's a good idea. I'll come."

"Alone." Nick stated.

Jake ignored his protest and jogged to catch the elevator before it left.

Mary Elkins, a small woman who worked in the forensic department was caught in between the two angry men in the small space.

A few floors before they got to the lobby, Jake leaned over and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator jerked to a stop and Jake turned to face his partner.

"For god's sake, not you too Franks!" Nick's volume rose in irritation. "I'm trying to do my job here but all you people seem interested in doing is interrogating me!"

"I don't think you should be on this case." Jake said simply.

"Excuse me," a quiet voice said from the corner. Mary was hesitant to interrupt. "I have to get to a meeting."

"Of course, sorry Mary." Nick pressed the button and the elevator was moving again.

Jake sighed and muttered. "You're too close to this one, Bennett."

This time it was Nick that stopped the elevator. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nick shot his partner a glare.

Jake put up his hands. "I'm just saying that- Look. You spend night and day in this office trying to find her. It's like the world outside doesn't exist to you any more."

"I'm trying to do my job, which is to catch this criminal. Its what I'm paid to do, Jake! What both of us are paid to do!"

Mary's quiet request to leave was drowned out as the two men began to yell.

"You're right. This is your job and no one doubts that you're dedicated to it. But normal people pack up and go home at the end of the day. They leave the job behind!"

"And so do I!"

Jake shook his head. "No, Bennett. You go home and you keep working. Don't lie to me and try and tell me that this case isn't the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning. I know you better than you think!"

"What the bloody hell do you want me to do? Give up? Ask to be taken off the case?"

"Yes!"

"I can't do that!"

"Why the hell not?"

"I just can't!" Nick shouted.

"Why?" Jake insisted.

"Because I can't lose her! Not again!" The words had cascaded from Nick's throat before he could find the strength to stop them. The air went quiet in the small space. There was no going back so Nick continued his confession. "Kat got away and for seven years I had to wonder if I had really known her. Really seen her. Or if I was just insane, like everyone told me I was. I couldn't stop thinking about her face. Her cold eyes. I still can't. And I'll never be able to until she and all her crew are in prison."

"Bennett-" Jake said softly.

"No." He shook his partner off. "You keep telling me I'm too close to this. Well you're right. I am. I see her in every crowd. God damn it, I see her when I close my eyes. Bishop is always there. Starring right at me with those eyes. Always."

"If we find her, will this stop?"

Nick looked at his partner through the fog of stress and pain. "It's the only way it ever will."

Jake gave a reassuring half-smile. "Then we're just going to have to track her down."

Mary, the small woman who was standing, forgotten, in the corner raised her hand timidly. "If you're both done, can we please get the elevator moving?"

"Sorry." They mumbled in unison. Jake pressed the button and the elevator was rolling smoothly downwards. They reached the second floor and Kelly darted out, eager to be out of the small space.

As the elevator continued to the ground floor Nick sighed. "I wish had that Bagshaw file."

"We might not need it." Jake said. "It may not be relevant, a few days ago I glanced through it when I was sorting the papers into piles. The newest report said that just recently one of the Bagshaw's had been seen crossing into Luxembourg."

"How recently?" Nick asked.

Jake shook his head. "Not sure. Maybe five days ago."

"Luxemburg's a small country. There's not many targets there."

"See that's what I was thinking. I didn't want to mention it in front of Kent in case this turned out to be a dead-end, but when you were still in her office I checked it out. You're right there aren't many targets in such a small country. In fact there's only one that's worth hitting. The Mersch Museum."

"I've heard of it." Nick said. "It's small but the security would make it too difficult for the brothers to rob."

"Right, which is why I was thinking-" Jake trailed off.

"They're not doing it alone."

**AN: Thanks for being patient with this story, the whole romance aspect will start to heat up soon. Hopefully next chapter but I have yet to decide if I'm going to do another chapter with Kat and the crew before 'it' happens. Please review! -Niephora**


	7. Wild Thing

Two shadows stole across the dark corridor of the museum.

"How's it coming, Kitty Kat?" Kat heard Gabrielle's voice through the earpiece.

"We're almost to the gallery." Simon answered for her, as Kat was a little busy cutting the wires of the central security system. Sometimes these systems were so technologically advanced they required some old fashioned, hands on tampering. Simon had tagged along to electronically deactivate the other in-house alarm systems.

When Kat had successfully cut the wires she let out a breath and asked. "How are things on you're end, Hamish?"

"You're get away chariot will be ready when you are, My Lady."

The entire team was here. Most of it, at least. Once again Hale was trapped in a business meeting. It was a rare occasion that the old crew was working as one. Over the years they had gone their separate ways to chase after their own ambitions.

Gabrielle had become a master con artist, conning the world's wealthiest eligible bachelors out of their riches. Simon had followed his passion of hacking and had been causing havoc all over the web. Even the brothers had gone solo. Hamish specialized in explosives while Angus had a knack for bank heists.

On this particular evening in Luxembourg the original Henley crew was reunited to perform an old fashioned painting robbery.

When they reached the entrance to the gallery, Simon fiddled around on his hand held tablet and pointed in the direction of the door. After a few seconds he proudly announced that the alarm had been deactivated.

"But you didn't even touch anything." Kat noted, confused.

Simon grinned with pride. "Yup."

"So you could have just done that from across the street? There was no need for you to physically be here?" Kat raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said you had to be there to turn it off." Gabrielle said over the comms.

"Well, technically no, but I wanted to see personally if it would work."

Kat and Gabrielle groaned in unison. "Simon!"

"You're telling me I didn't have to pull you all the way up the south wall?" Kat's arms still ached from hoisting Simon up the museum wall to the third floor, as he didn't have the upper body strength to scale it himself.

Simon began his defense. "Gabrielle's the one who's always telling me to get out more often. So I did."

"I meant you should go to bars and meet woman! Not-"

"Alright, alright." Kat broke in. "He's here now, let's just get the job done."

There were mumbles of agreement from the two sides and Simon and Kat continued towards the target.

As the pair traversed the dark gallery towards the Picasso the sound of police sirens split the quiet night. Covering her ears, Kat yelled. "Simon! What the hell did you do?" He frantically searched the contents of his tablet. "I don't understand! All the alarms should have been off! How did they know?"

From the museums courtyard several levels bellow the sound of a man's voice over the megaphone boomed over the sirens. "This in Interpol. Katarina Bishop you are under arrest for 57 counts of robbery. Come out, slowly, with your hand above your head."

It dawned on Kat that this whole heist has been compromised from the beginning. "We've been set up."

Simon was still madly poking at his tablet. "I don't understand-"

Kat grabbed his arm, forcing him to snap back to reality. "Simon we've been set up. It wasn't you're fault."

"What do we do?" His face was a mask of unadulterated panic.

"We've got to run." Kat commanded as she tried to suppress her own fear. "Come on!"

Kat led the way down the hall at a sprint. Today was not the day she wanted to get caught. "Simon, pull up the blueprints for the museum. There's got to be a way out of here they won't expect."

Gabrielle screeched over the headset. "Kat, Interpol's entered the museum you've got to get out of there. Like, NOW!"

"Simon?" Kat called.

"Okay, give me a minute, if we go this way, no wait that way-I've got it! Follow me!"

They were sprinting again through galleries, not caring what alarms they set off. Kat's lungs went up in flames. The air was pulsing with flashes lights and the screeches of sirens.

Flashlights and voices cut the pair off near the end of the hall and then they were running back the way they came.

Simon turned a corner sharply. "This way!"

"Are you sure?" The hall seemed to lead to a dead end.

"Kat, who has then map?"

"You do."

"Then yes, I'm pretty sure!" Simon snapped.

Kat put her hands up. "Fine. We'll go this way."

When they reached the end of the hall Simon ran to the window. "Damn, its painted shut!"

Kat grabbed the tablet from Simon's hands and smashed in against the window. The glass shattered away in a million pieces. "Fixed it." She announced.

"Now we jump." Simon said.

Kat looked out the smashed window to the pavement bellow. "Three stories? No thanks."

"There should be a dumpster bellow that we can land it."

"Simon, there's no dumpster."

"What? The map shows a dumpster." He leaned out the window beside her. "Why does today suck?"

"There's got to be another way out." She insisted.

"Stop right there, Bishop!" They spun around to see their old acquaintance holding them at gunpoint. Nick had a fierce look of determination in his eyes. "Hands up." He commanded.

He had finally done it. Nick had caught up with her after seven years of searching. Kat and Simon stood trapped in front of him, they're only option of escape, a fatal fifty-foot drop. They could hear the barks of police dogs approaching from all corners of the museum halls. They would be here soon. This insanity would be over.

"I told you I would find you. You can't run forever, Kat."

Kat slowly raised her hands above her head. "You caught me."

The two men starred at her in shock. "What?" Simon chocked on the words.

"I've waited seven years to hear you say that." Nick said.

"And now you've got me." Kat said. "So go ahead and lock me away, Nick."

"That's it?" Simon looked to Kat in confusion. "We just give up? After everything?"

"There's no way out of this, Simon." Nick could hear the life drain from Kat's voice with every word she spoke. She was really giving up. Everything was, as he always wanted it. So why was his chest aching? Why did the air feel so thin? Kat looked into Nick. "Its over." The fire in her eyes, the light he had been chasing for so many dark nights was flickering out.

It was the thought of Kat in a prison cell, locked away from the world, away from him, that broke Nick. It was a sad and desolate image of an exotic, free bird constrained to a cage. It didn't fit. It wasn't right.

There are choices that we make everyday, clear ones that have very little affect on our lives. They are so obvious that we almost aren't aware we are making them. Then there are choices that define us.

It was in the darkness of that gallery, hidden in the shadows away from the glare of the police's searching lights that Nick made a choice that would define his life. Yet to him, it didn't seem like a choice at all.

"Go."

After years of desperate searching, it finally dawned on Nick: He could never catch Kat. Yes, she was standing in front of him, helpless. He could cuff her, lock her up in a small cell and visit her every time he got the overwhelming desire to see her face.

But it wasn't her physical being that Nick wanted. It was her soul. It had been a useless chase. He could lock her in a cage, but Nick could never get to her spirit. All this time he had run around the world trying to catch a hurricane, a wild thing, but just holding her in his arms, just touching her would never be enough. To capture her would be to destroy the wild thing within her. To catch her would be to murder the soul that he loved.

He loved her. To pretend otherwise was to fool himself. Nick loved Kat.

Nick looked once more at the flesh and bones that held his beloved wild thing. The light within the her eyes, the soul of the free bird, was already fading. He could not let it die out.

"Go, Kat. Get out of here." Nick slid the gun away from himself and raised his hands above his head to show he had given up. He would lay down this life he had built and surrender his good conscious, if that was what it took to save her. "Take the Western wing until you reach the service staircase. You'll be out before they can get to you."

Kat stood in stunned confusion. What was he doing? She didn't understand. Nick had her pinned and now he was letting her go? What was more confusing was that she didn't want to go. "What?" She breathed.

"You heard me. Get out!" He shouted urgently. "Both of you. Go!" Nick was infuriated with himself, but he could not bear confine her.

Simon wasn't going to wait to be told twice. He turned to run but when he saw Kat still froze in place he reached for her. "Kat, come on! They're getting closer. We have to go!"

"Why?" She asked softly. Her blue eyes never having left Nick's face.

"Kat, please, go." Nick begged. The beams of the searching lights grew closer; their glow would soon divide the darkness they stood in.

She just shook her head. Kat wouldn't leave without answers.

"Please, go. I _need_ you to get out of here." He pleaded.

Kat stepped forward, as if she were moving to touch him, but then stopped herself. Her eyes were a mixture of caution and curiosity chasing together in waves of endless blue.

Still the approaching voices grew louder.

"Why, Nick?" Kat demanded.

The desperation of the minute overcame him. "If I've learned anything over the last seven years it's that you can't catch a wild thing." He admitted softly. "No matter how much you want to. No matter how badly."

In a microsecond, the meaning of his words passed between them and for the first time, everything was clear. Nick prayed that she understood. In that short amount of time, Nick could see the wild thing race through her eyes and take her over. Her ever cell visibly came to life.

Then that second was over, and Kat was running away. Nick bolted in the other direction. With Simon behind her, Kat darted through the halls of the dark museum, away from Nick and away from Interpol. The sirens nipped at their heels, driving them faster and faster back into the shadows.

Kat ran and she didn't stop running. Not when they had escaped the museum. Not when Simon called after her. Not until the Bagshaws pulled up beside her in the get away van. Kat dived inside and they sped off into the shadows.

The entire crew was knocked about as Angus drove like a madman. "What the hell happened?"

"They must have known we were coming." Simon coughed trying to catch his breath.

"Everyone just calm down." Gabrielle took control of the situation as Kat was busy trying to breath. "Angus focus on driving. Hamish call Uncle Eddie. We need to warn the rest of the family that Interpol might be onto them. Simon find us the fastest way out of this country."

She turned then to Kat and handed her a water bottle. "Drink." She commanded.

When Kat had soothed the fire in her chest she spoke. "Thanks."

"Kat, what happened in there?" Gabrielle asked. "The comms. went dead when you smashed the tablet. We had no idea if you were okay." Despite all the rivalry between them Kat could be sure of her cousins love in that moment when she saw the worry in Gabrielle's eyes.

"It was Bennett." Simon informed them. "He caught up to us."

"I don't understand. How did he know we were coming here if Kat stole the file?" Hamish asked while punching numbers into his phone.

"They must have read it before I could get to it." Kat couldn't think. Her mind was unfocused. It felt as though she were still running.

"Hold on, how did you get out if he caught you?" Gabrielle asked.

Simon and Kat exchanged a look. "We got around him and ducked out the service staircase." Simon said, his eyes never leaving Kat's face.

Kat nodded to confirm the story.

The nervous chatter of the crew continued but Kat couldn't hear it. She watched through the back window as all the lights and the noise and the chaos receded on the horizon. Her mind attempted to replay the events, to make sense of it but it was his words alone that repeated over and again. 'You can't catch a wild thing. No matter how much you want to.'


	8. Deja Vu

**AN:Its short but oh well. It is what it is. Don't forget to review!**

The night Nick let Kat go he returned to his apartment in silence. As he turned the lock he thought back to his colleagues disappointment when they discovered Bishop had somehow escaped the museum.

Nick thought on what his actions would mean. He was still tasked with finding Katarina Bishop and locking her away. How could he possibly do his job when the idea of Kat caged in a cell was physically painful to him?

He was too tired to contemplate it all now. The weight of the world could wait until the morning. As Nick crossed the living to his bedroom something caught his eye.

Sitting in an enormous armchair in the corner of the room, was a small woman. Shrouded by the darkness, her face was concealed, but Nick would have known who she was in the pitch black. He could feel her presence on his skin.

He recalled the first time he had ever met her, in a manor similar to this. "Why do I feel like I've seen this before?"

Kat didn't give a flirty answer. Neither one was playing games anymore. That time had passed.

When she remained silent, Nick sighed. "You shouldn't be here, Kat."

"No, I shouldn't be." There was a weakness, a sort of fear in her voice that Nick had never heard before. He hated it.

"Then why are you?"

She countered his inquiry with one of her. "Why did you let me go?" It was a loaded question.

He sighed. "I already told you, Kat. I can't catch a wild thing." He noticed she was biting her lip. Kat was nervous. "No matter how much I want to."

"You could catch me now." She reminded him. "I'm unarmed."

"No I couldn't." He turned away from her so as to hide his pained expression.

"Isn't that you're job? To catch criminals?"

"I'm not going to arrest you, Kat. Leave."

"I'm not leaving." Kat said defiantly.

Nicked wheeled on her in anger. "So you're asking me to break the law? To just ignore the fact that a wanted criminal is standing in my apartment?"

"No!" She shouted back. "I mean, yes! I don't know what I'm asking you." This was not the confident woman Nick had been chasing for the last six months.

He continued to press her. "Why are you here? I'm done with these games. Tell me Kat!"

"I don't-I'm sorry. I just- _I don't know_!" She buried her face in her hands.

Nick couldn't stand to watch her suffer in confusion anymore, but he needed answers. He closed the remaining space between them and kneeled in front of the chair.

Gently, Nick pried Kat's hands from her face and held them in his. He spoke softly when he said. "What _do_ you know, Kat?"

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment. Finally she spoke, admitting the truth. "I know that I'm scared. I know that you could arrest me at any time. But I know that you won't."

Nick couldn't resist the desire to touch her. He gently traced her cheekbone with his fingers as she spoke.

"I know that my being here is putting you in danger. I know I shouldn't be here." She paused. "And even though I don't know why, I know that I love you."

Nick's heart was threatening to explode with joy as Kat's words seeped into his veins. But his head was ringing with the signs of danger.

"That's a dangerous thing to say." He whispered.

"It's a dangerous thing to feel." Kat countered.

And suddenly he was terrified. Terrified that she might bring about his end, but even more terrified that he might bring about hers.

They leaned closer until he was inhaling her air. "I told you to run, Kat."

"I don't want to run. Not anymore." She breathed. "Not from you."

And with that, Nick's last ounce of self-control came tumbling down. "You'll be the death of me, Katarina Bishop. I know it."

He crashed his lips against hers. In that moment there was no earth or sky. No Interpol or laws. No good or bad. There was only a girl, a boy and the sweet taste of love of their lips.

**AN: Feel free to leave a review, whether its good or bad. Next Chapter is up on Tuesday. -Niephora**


	9. Come Hell or High Water

**AN: Happy Tuesday! Enjoy!**

Nick had lived and worked in Paris before, but he had never been to Paris with Kat. The city of love changed before his eyes, taking on a warm glow, like sunlight. What used to be an irritating wait in line for coffee were now a few more precious moments Nick could stand beside Kat, engrossed by her stories. His empty apartment was now full of her presence.

He went to work each day, reading through files, tracking footprints in the wrong direction. Every time Interpol got close to finding her Nick steered the investigation in the other direction.

Every minute she was on his mind. Even when they were apart she was in everything he saw, every thought he had. Countless times he would think of something and wish that she were there so that he could share it with her. Kat was more than the woman he loved; she was his partner crime.

It was as if Kat were on a permanent high. She normally only felt this when she had successfully pulled off a large heist. Driving away from the scene of the crime at a high speed, the adrenaline still coursing through her, making her every cell come alive.

This was Nick, her adrenaline, her heroine. He was the moment of pure joy and the rush of victory embodied in a living being. Nick's presence had become an IV to her, slowly dripping happiness into her bloodstream at a steady rate.

When they were separated she began to feel the sweet effects of his drug vanishing. Filling his empty space was a familiar pain and loneliness that Kat wasn't even aware she had felt all her life until Nick came along and replaced it with thick ecstasy. He filled a hole in Kat's soul that she never knew she had. Slowly but surely he pulled her from the shadows into the light.

Kat had never had a permanent home but she found herself spending all the time she could in Nick's apartment. She would fly around the world on her heists but something pulled her back to him each time. It was a pull she had never felt before. Still, she couldn't bring herself to sleep there. It was too risky. Her thief's blood kept her moving. Always moving.

Nick grew accustom to waking to an empty bed. The sheets sprawled across an absent person. He never allowed himself to hope that she would stay. Nick could never catch the wild thing. He was simply grateful for the short time he was allowed with this exquisite creature.

Nick grew to hate sleep. It was sleep that stole her from him. He needed, but never wanted rest. And so reluctantly Nick drifted from consciousness every night, wishing he could keep his eyes open for just a few moments more, because he knew when he opened them next the divine thing laying beside him would have vanished.

The sunlight from the open windows cascaded across Nick's closed lids. Its intense glow woke him as it usually did. Nick opened his eyes and was faced with a glow stronger than any ray of sun.

Beside him, in the brilliant morning light laid Kat. Her eyes were closed, still fast asleep. Absolute peace fixed itself in her features.

Nick's heart beat so hard he thought for a moment it might wake her. Was she really here lying beside him? Kat's rising and falling chest transfixed him. Her hair flowed messily across the white pillow. Kat's skin took on a powerful glow that seemed to radiate from within her being.

Had Nick been able to live in that moment forever he would have. But Kat's eyes sleepily fluttered open. A slow smile swept over her face and stunned Nick.

"Good Morning." She whispered as her fingertips reached for the skin of Nick's cheek.

"Good Morning." The words flowed from his mouth with overwhelming happiness. The kind so strong, he thought he might burst into stardust at any second.

As he studied her angelic face Nick wondered aloud. "I don't think you're human, Katarina Bishop."

Her brow furrowed in an adorable way. "What?" Kat asked in a half laugh.

"No, you can't be just human. Humans don't smile like that."

She traced the line of his collarbones with her fingers. "If I'm not a person than what am I?" Kat teased.

"I don't know." Nick admitted. "But I know you're not human. No, you're some divine thing. One I don't deserve."

Kat didn't answer, she just continued to trace the hills and ridges of his chest.

After a moment Nick slide the covers off of Kat's bare back and examined it.

"What are you doing?"  
"Looking for wings." Nick smiled charmingly and stole her breath from her.

When Kat's lungs had regained their air she rolled her eyes at his slick charm.

"I'm sure there're here somewhere." Nick teased, running a hand over her back. Kat laughed as his palm tickled her skin.

Nick grinned at her. "Katarina Bishop, are you ticklish?"

"No." Kat said too quickly. Nick ran his fingers over her arm and she laughed again, pulling away.

"Lair!" He laughed wickedly as he assaulted her skin. Kat tried to fight back, pushing him away with her feet, but she couldn't. She laughed so hard her breath abandoned her and she was helplessly taken captive in Nick's arms.

Kat collapsed against his chest, surrendering to the steady sound of his heartbeat. They lay that way for a moment, silently inhaling each other's joy.

Katarina reached up to touch his face had found a small scar on his right temple that she had never noticed before.

"There is so much I don't know about you." She mussed aloud.

Nick shifted so that they lay face to face. "You don't have to know every detail about a person to love them."

"No." Kat agreed. "But I still want to know more about you." She traced the outline of the silver scar with her fingertip.

He smiled. "Like what?"

"How did you get the scar on your temple?"

He sighed. "I was seven. We lived in a flat but it had a garden behind it with these big stonewalls that blocked it off from the streets. I used to try and climb the walls so that I could spy on the people walking by." He spoke slowly, watching her watching him. "I fell off the wall into a rose bush. I had scratches all over from the thorns but for some reason that one was the only one that scarred."

"A rose bush?" Kat chuckled.

Nick's smile mirrored Kat's. "Just don't tell Jake. He thinks I got it in a knife fight."

"I promise I won't tell Jake."

A stab of guilt ran through Nick at the mention of his friend. "Yes. He's also my best friend. My only friend, really." Nick would never be able to tell Jake about Kat. He would never be able to be together with the two people he cared most about. "I wish you could meet him. I'm sure he'd love you."

"I wish that too." Kat whispered. They both knew how impossible this love was. Yet neither could live without the other. They had been together for several months now, existing in a bubble of happiness. But lurking outside the haven that was Nick's apartment the world was harsh and unforgiving. It was dangerous to be seen together and even more hazardous wish otherwise.

Neither of their loved ones could ever know about them. Nick and Kat were forced to love quietly, because they knew they could stop loving one another even if they wanted to.

"It's my turn to ask a question." Nick said.

"Fire away."

"That heist in Tokyo. The bank. We saw you on the cameras of the hundred and fourteenth floor but there was no video of you leaving. How did you get out?" It was a question that had been bothering Nick for seven months now.

"We didn't." Kat shrugged.

"What?"

"We never left after we got in. Hamish and I sat in the air vents for a few days."

Nick took a few seconds to process this. "So, when Jake and I came to investigate, you were right above us, the entire time?"

"Well, not directly above you. We were in the vents on the next floor up. They were bigger. I didn't realize you were even there until I saw you on the roof."

"I can't believe I was that close to you and still…" He trailed off thinking of all the times Kat had slipped away.

For so long he was obsessed with catching her. Now he realized he had been in love with Kat the entire while.

Had she really been that close the whole time?

"Hey," Kat called him back from his thoughts, laying a palm on his chest. "I'm right here. With you. It doesn't matter what happened then. You're here and so am I."

"You're right." Nick pulled her close to his chest once more. "It's your turn. Ask me anything. I swear I'll tell the truth."

Kat thought for a moment then said. "What's your favorite colour?"

"Colour?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "That's your question, what's my favourite colour?" Kat nodded.

He was about to respond that he didn't really have a favourite but paused when he looked deep into her irises.

Once, Nick had thought of them like ice, cold and cutting. Now there was warmth. Kat's eyes were the colour of the shallow Mediterranean Sea, rays of sun streaming through the water to illuminate it. Starring into her eyes Nick wanted to sink beneath their waves and never surface again.

"Blue. Definitely, blue." He said.

Kat smiled, and the glow of the sun was dwarfed by her magnificence. "Next question."

Nick was about to ask her what her favourite place in the world was when outside the window police sirens ripped through the air, shattering the warmth of the moment.

Kat jolted from the bed, poised to run. The sound of the sirens receded in the distance, rushing off to some emergency, but Kat remained tense.

Nick reached for her. "You're all right, love. They aren't coming for you."

"They will one day." Kat starred out the window, distracted, as she pulled his shirt over herself.

"I won't let them take you, Kat." He assured her.

"How could you possibly stop them?" She challenged. "Its your job to catch me. Sooner or later you're going to have to."

He shook his head. "I would never do that to you. I couldn't, Kat."

"But how Nick?"

"I'll follow dead end leads like I have been. Eventually they'll have to close the case when we don't find anything."

"And in the mean time, I'm just supposed to stop stealing?" The impractical, impossible nature of reality was filling the cracks that the sirens had left. Nick could feel Kat retreating within herself, away from him. "I can't do that. My family will know something is wrong."

"I'll just have to make sure Interpol doesn't catch up with you." Just like that, starring at Kat's worried face Nick knew that he wasn't part of Interpol anymore. Something had changed. The world had shifted and standing at its center was this small, beautiful thing.

His words did little to sooth Kat's pained expression. She pulled a sweater over herself and left the bedroom. After a minute Nick followed her.

Kat was curled up into the same chair he found her in a month prior. She looked out the window, biting her lip.

Nick offered her his hand. "Hey."

"Hey." She replied quietly. Taking his hand she let him pull her out of the chair and into his embrace.

"Katarina Bishop I swear to you I will never let them hurt you."

"But-"

"No." Nick was firm.

"I can't ask you to give up everything for me. And please don't ask it of me Nick. You won't like the answer."

"I'm asking you to love me, Kat. That's all."

"What if that's not enough?"

Nick paused. "I know you're scared. I am too. But if I have to shield you from the bullets myself, I will not, I cannot let them hurt you. You're my everything, Kat."

She looked up at his golden face. "I love you." These three words were not enough, but they seemed to be the only ones that could come close.

"I love you too. And I always will," He whispered as he brushed her tears away with his thumb. "Come hell or high water."

Kat smiled, nodding. "Come hell or high water."

**AN: Thanks for the reviews and keep em coming :) Next post is Friday -Niephora**


	10. A Boy, a Girl and a Red Door

**AN:Happy Friday! Here's another one. So previously in this story its been more of a chain of events in a close time frame but its going to shift a little now. My original intent for this was to just do the main points in their life together but it sort of morphed itself into something different. Thanks for all the reviews and as always, keep them coming. :)**

They had been together for four months and Kat had all but moved into Nick's apartment. For the first time in forever she had somewhere to call home. No matter how ludicrous her days were Kat knew that each night she would fall asleep in Nick's embrace.

She had never been so happy.

"I wish I could stay longer." Nick lingered in the doorway, soaking up Kat's presence before he had to leave for the office. It had come to the point where Nick only felt alive when he was with her. Every minute apart was an endless torture. Each day, Nick faced the task of tearing himself away from Kat's blue eyes to go to Interpol.

Kat smiled warmly at Nick as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I wish you never had to go at all."

"Be careful what you wish for." Nick said. "You just might get it."

Their lips met and Nick didn't think he could make it to Interpol that morning. Or ever again.

He rested his forehead on hers as Kat whispered. "You're going to be late."

"I don't mind." Nick smiled.

"You will when you get fired."

"No. Not even then."

"Go. Catch bad guys. Do good."

Nick sighed. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Tonight." Kat agreed. "Now get going. I've got a heist to plan and your distracting me."

Nick kissed her deeply one last time before turning to walk out the empty door.

"Oh, you are so busted!" Gabrielle stood at the bottom of the step leading up to the door, with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Gabrielle, just let me explain." Kat said.

"By all means, please do Kat!" Gabrielle stood cross-armed in the apartment's living room. "Explain to me exactly why after you went MIA for three weeks, I found you swapping spit with Nicky Boy here."

"I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I know I should have checked in before-"

"That's not the point, Kitty Kat. You go missing all the time. The point is that you are living with a COP!"

"Gabs-" Kat pleaded.

"Do you have a death wish or something? Is that what this is? Some kind of weird fetish?"

"Gabrielle!" Kat groaned. "It's not like that!"

"I know this is hard for you to understand," Nick broke in before Gabrielle could continue shouting "and I know that it doesn't make sense but I love her. And Kat loves me. I could never hurt her, Gabrielle. Never."

Gabrielle stayed silent for a moment, watching Nick. Having decided that he was telling the truth she smirked. "Didn't know we were in the business of stealing hearts now, Kitty Kat."

"Gabrielle, please try and-"

She cut Kat off. "You realize that you're being an idiot, right?"

"I know the risks."

"I never thought you'd be the one to fall for the bad boy."

Kat smiled. "Technically he's the good boy in this case."

Gabrielle shrugged. "That doesn't change the fact that Katarina Bishop, the good girl, did something she wasn't supposed to do."

"It's not like it's the first time." Nick interjected. "Kat was never supposed the break into the Henley, but she did."

"Look, golden boy, in our line of work breaking into a museum is an everyday thing. Falling in love with a cop. Not so much." She looked back at Kat. "Uncle Eddie is going to murder you."

Kat ignored the comment and turned to Nick. "You should go. You'll be late if you don't catch the next bus."

Nick looked over a Gabrielle, like he thought she might snatch Kat up and fly off with her. "I don't want to leave you high and dry, love. I can take the day off. Jake will be fine on his own."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Go. I'll be here when you get home. I promise." Kat watched him leave and turned back to her cousin who was making herself comfortable in the chair in the corner.

With her long silky hair and lean legs Gabrielle looked like something out of a fashion magazine. Even at 23 Kat was still a little girl compared to her cousin.

There was a long moment of quiet as Kat sat in the chair across from Gabrielle. Neither spoke until Gabrielle laughed to herself.

"What is it?" Kat inquired, concerned that her cousin was losing it.

"You were always the rational one. Slightly insane, but still, always so careful. So smart."

Kat smiled back. "I guess I was."

"It wasn't two months ago that Uncle Eddie was telling me I was too risky. I should be more like you. More sensible."

Kat's smile faded. "Gabs, am I really insane for doing this?"

Gabrielle sobered up. "Kitty Kat, I've dated a lot of men. Well, I've conned a lot of men. Short, tall, muscular, rich, you name it, I've robbed it."

Kat rolled her eyes. "I know, Gabrielle-"

"No. Just listen." She insisted. "They adore me, Kat. Anything I want they give it to me." A sad smile overtook her eyes. "But never once did any of them look at me like that man looks at you. Not once. Kat," She paused "falling in love is a crazy idea. And falling in love with someone who wants to put you in prison is absolutely insane. But you wouldn't be the amazing thief that you are if you weren't so insane. Get it?"

"Not really."

"Ugh," Gabrielle groaned. "I'm not good at words. What I'm trying to say is that, you're crazy, not stupid. And if anyone can pull something like this off without getting arrested, it'd be you.

"Does this mean-"

"I'm not saying I like him, Kat. I'm just saying, I can see that you love him, and he loves you too. And love, - that's something you can't steal. Believe me Kitty Kat, I've tried."

"What do we do now?" Kat asked.

"_You_ come clean to the family."

"I can't!" She protested.

"You can't not, Kat. They're bound to find out sooner or later."

"Uncle Eddie really is going to murder me, isn't he?"

Gabrielle considered for a moment. "Maybe, its not as if this is the first stray you've ever brought home."

* * New York * *

They stood in front of the red door of the Brooklyn brown stone. Kat's delicate hand was intertwined with Nick's fingers.

"Nervous?" She asked him.

"Terrified."

"So am I." Kat admitted. "There's no use putting it off, I guess." She started towards the door but he pulled her back.

"Whatever happens, Kat, you know that I love you, right? Come hell or high water."

Kat reached up on her toes to kiss him. "And I love you, come hell, high water or a hundred angry thieves."

He chuckled. "Think you're father will like me?"

"No. But it's not him I'm worried about. Besides, I like you Nick Bennett and that's what matters."

Nick's lips pulled upwards in the corners and his eyes illuminated with all the love a human being could bear to hold. "I like you too, Katarina Bishop."

And with that they crossed through the red door to face reality in the form of Kat's protective family.

**AN: Sorry about the weak ending but if I don't post this now it won't go up today. Such is the nature of my chaotic life :/ Next post will be Tuesday (hopefully). Thank you to Dork Queen, Parapluie Lire, SnowConeAdict and saucedoleslie19 for following. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on the direction of the story. And thank you to VictoriaCecilia for favouriting. And of course thank you to everyone else who's taking to time to read. It makes me so happy to know that I'm not just talking to empty air. -Niephora**


	11. Heart of Ice

**AN: Hey, sorry about not posting on Tuesday. Life has this way of taking over. Currently I'm lucky to get more than four hours sleep each night, which leaves little time and energy for fan fiction. Also this story kind of sucks at the moment (Sorry about that). For the time being I will only be posting once per week as thats about as much as I can handle. I'm thinking about doing a sequel to We are Thieves, featuring James and the crew,(Romance, and robbing and kidnapping, Oh my! ;) so that I can tie up loose ends on that. Let me know if you're interested! Don't forget to review! **

They broke down the doors to Simon's base with more enthusiasm than he thought necessary. Of course he had seen them coming on his monitors, but he knew it was too late by that time. Even before then, Simon could have sworn he knew it was coming from the moment he woke up that morning. Something had been off.

So when Interpol crashed through the doors and began shouting commands at him to put his hands above his head, Simon just sighed and rolled his eyes. They made the usual show of cuffing him and leading him out to the car to be carted off to jail. More painful than the too tight metal handcuffs was the sight of Interpol spreading out across Simon's place, poking and prodding at his equipment. The idiots had no idea what they were doing.

"Hey, be careful with that!" Simon yelled at one of them. "Do you have any idea how much that costs?"

Of course, they all ignored him and continued on taking apart his lab, searching for evidence. Not that they really needed it. They already had more than enough of a paper trail to convict Simon.

It was his own fault really. He had been reckless. Stupid, even. Simon had carelessly forgotten to cover up his tracks on the last job he pulled with Kat and the crew, and now he would suffer the consequences.

They led him to the armored car and shoved him into back seat with more force than was required. A familiar face appeared in the open window.

"I'm sorry, mate. I didn't have much of a choice." Nick said quietly. He couldn't risk any of his colleges finding out he was some how related to the criminal.

"Yeah, I get it. It was sloppy work." Simon couldn't be too irritated with Nick.

"I would've helped you out, it's just, if I had let this one go someone might have noticed."

"Well, congrates. You get to keep your secret and your job, while I go to jail." Simon tired not to sound too bitter.

Interpol was now hauling his precious equipment out in boxes. Simon winced as they dropped them crudely into the back of a truck.

Nick ran a hand through his hair. "I really am sorry, Simon."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

He groaned at the thought of Kat's reaction. "She's going to be angry, isn't she?"

"She's going to be pissed."

Nick took a deep breath before reaching to open his apartment door. He braced himself for Hurricane Kat to hit him full force. He expected yelling, screaming, maybe even crying (on his part of course). But what Nick found behind the door of apartment 247 terrified him more than any of that.

The place was silent. There were no shouts of anger or broken dishes shattered across the floor. It was eerily calm.

Nick surveyed the place, looking for damage or signs of Kat's rage. Something seemed different, but Nick couldn't quite discern what it was yet.

Kat immerged from the bedroom and strode past Nick to the living room. She didn't look at him or even acknowledge his presence.

Nick sighed and prepared to recite his speech. "Look, I know you're angry and I am sorry that I didn't help Simon, but it was too-" He saw Kat move quickly about the space grabbing clothing and items which she then threw into an open suitcase on the ground.

"Wait," Nick paused his rehearsed speech. "What's going on? What are you doing?"

Kat didn't answer she only tossed more things in the bag. It dawned on Nick that she was packing to leave and a horrible rush of panic swept through him.

"Kat, you can't leave over this! Simon will be out of jail soon. We can find some way to get him out, alright." Still no reply. "Love, please stop." He begged, reaching for her.

Kat wheeled on him. Her face was filled a deadly rage. "No!" She screamed. "You were supposed to help him, and instead you let him rot in jail! You said that you would help him!"

"There was too much evidence. Simon got sloppy. I couldn't cover up that much mess without someone noticing."

"So you let Simon go to jail so that you could keep you job?"

"Its more complicated than that and you know it!"

Kat spun on her heel and continued her course around the apartment, sweeping up all of her possessions.

"It was his own fault, Kat. Simon should have been more careful. He left a massive paper-trail behind him."

"I don't care how big the trail was Nick. You could have helped him but you didn't!"

"It would have cost me my job! More than that it might have landed me in prison."

"So that's it, is it? You're job is more important than your family?"

"Kat, I'm a cop. I can't just-"

"Did you really mean it when you said hell or high water? Or was that just a lie?" Kat asked in a tone so quiet it scared Nick.

"What?"

Her blue eyes starred into Nick's. "If I was the one who had screwed up, if it was me that had left the paper trail would you have abandoned me too?"

"Of course not-"

"Don't lie to me!" She snapped.

Nick just stared at Kat in silence. It should have been an obvious answer, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. To leave Interpol behind would be to leave everything he had ever known.

This small woman stood in front of him, asking him if he would give the world up to love her, and Nick froze. "I…"

Kat picked up her bag. "Goodbye, Nick." She tried to walk around him but Nick stepped in front of her.

"Don't go. Please, Kat. Don't go." He begged.

"You can't stop me, Nick. It's my choice."

Nick grabbed her sides and pulled her towards him with more force than he realized. "Seven years, Kat! You haunted my mind for seven years. I have you now and I won't let you leave that easy."

"It's my choice!" She screamed as she fought against his hold. "You can't stop me! You can't hold me here, Nick!"

He released her. "Then I'll follow you. Wherever you go I will find you. I'm not going lose you again. Never again, Kat!"

"Why won't you just let me leave, Nick? Why?"

"Because I love you!" He shouted.

"But I don't love you!" Kat screamed back. They both froze as her words settled to the ground like falling snow. Cold and heavy, they made Nick shiver. He felt his heart crack down the middle but he couldn't bring himself to believe what he had just heard.

"What did you say?" He whispered.

"I-I said I don't love you."

Nick inhaled sharply as his cracked heart shattered like ice. His hands fell away from her. "I don't believe you. I can't."

Kat pushed passed Nick without a word. Her head was screaming. What had she just done? It was too late to take the words back. His heart lays in pieces, scattered across the floor.

She paused in the doorway, looking back at the broken boy. "Goodbye, Nick."

Stunned into silence, Nick turned around to say something, anything that would fix this, but she was already gone.

**AN: Not sure when I post next, probably next Friday. Maybe sooner if I develop superhuman powers between now and then. We'll see how it goes, I guess. Review please! Thanks for reading -A sleep deprived Niephora**


	12. Paperwork

A pile of papers cascaded down onto Nick's desk. He looked up to see Jake starring back down at him.

"It's gone too far."

"Your right, it has gone to far. You should have shaved that stash off weeks ago. Glad you realized it. I was just about to organize an intervention."

"No more jokes, Bennett. I'm not laughing this one off."

Nick sighed. "Mate, I'm not a mind reader your going to have to-"

"You know what I'm talking about, Nick. For months now, paperwork has gone missing. Leads just suddenly came to a dead end. All of it somehow connected to you." Though it was late and most people had gone left the office, Jake spoke in a hushed, urgent tone. "For a while, I looked away. I get it. Sometimes things happen and it's better if we bend the rules a little. But I can't ignore it anymore." He pointed towards the papers aggressively. "This-this has gone too far!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nick denied.

"Don't insult me by lying to me, Bennett. I've been covering up for you for the past four months, never asking why. But now I need answers!"

Nick stared down at the pile of papers. They were evidence of his faults and his promises. He had known Jake had caught on. Nick had hoped that he would just let it go, but now he realized it wasn't fair to expect Jake to turn a blind eye. Even if they were partners.

"I'm sorry, Jake." Nick confessed.

Jake's hard expression cracked and he collapsed back into a chair in front of the desk. "We've worked together for five years. You and I both know we're more than partners, Nick. You're my brother. And as your brother, I want to help you. But I can't do that if your shutting me out."

"Jake, I can't. If I get caught and Interpol knows that you let it go, then you'd get dragged down with me."

"There is no _if_ here. You leave a paper trail this long behind you and I'm not the only one that's going to notice. They're going to find out, if they don't already know."

Nick buried is face in his hands. "I never meant to do this. I never thought I'd be one of those people."

"So why did you? That's what I don't understand. Why risk it all?"

"Because I love her." Nick admitted. His expression pleaded with Jake to understand.

Comprehension of the situation seemed to pass over Jake's face. He moved from shock to confusion to an eerie calm. "Okay," he visually struggled to a grasp onto what Nick meant. "It's okay. Cops become obsessed by their targets all the time. You just think you're in love with her but-"

"No, Jake. I'm not just weirdly obsessed with her. Six months ago I started dating Katarina Bishop. I love her, Jake."

"What?"

"I love her."

"But, you mean to tell me that for the past six months you've been dating, like physically dating the criminal you're supposed to be putting behind bars?"

"Yes." Nick admitted.

"And there's no way you just imagined this. This was the real Katarina Bishop?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?" Jake launched forward out of his seat.

"It's not as bad as it sounds."

"No, you're right. It's not. It's way worse then it sounds!" Jake started pacing the small cubicle space. "I should have seen this coming. I mean, I know you had this weird obsession thing going on, but I never thought you'd be stupid enough to fall for this chick!"

"I know. I know that it is stupid and idiotic-" Nick tired to calm him down.

"And insane! You forgot absolutely insane."

"But it's over now. She left me, Jake. It's over."

"That doesn't change what you've done, Bennett. Or the fact that you let your emotions destroy your career."

"You don't need to tell me what I've done!" Nick barked back. "I know what it's cost me."

Both men settled back into their seats. For a moment, neither talked. When Jake spoke again his voice was soft. "She left you two months ago, didn't she?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm your brother, remember? Brothers tend to notice when the other one goes from on top of the world to suicidal in the space of a weekend."

"Yeah," Nick rubbed his neck. "I guess I was pretty depressed then."

"You still are, man. Look, what you did was wrong. Insanely wrong! But six months ago, it was like you became a completely different person. You remember that day in Belgium when we were talking about the new bans and what not. That was the first time I'd ever really heard you laugh. And I mean really, truly laugh, and mean it. And for those months you kept laughing. I didn't know why, I didn't really want to, but I knew that you were happy, Nick. And about six weeks ago, you stopped laughing. It was like watching this plant shrivel up and die when the sun went away. So I ignored the paper work and the shifty excuses."

"I'm sorry, Jake." Nick sighed in defeat. "I never should have done this to you. It wasn't fair and I'm sorry, mate."

"What are friends for but to cover each other's paper trials?"

They laughed but then silence fell between them for a moment.

"You still love her don't you?"

"How could I possibly love a criminal? It doesn't make sense."

"Haven't you ever heard of Romeo and Juliet? Love doesn't need to make sense. It just is."

"What do Romeo and Juliet have to with this?"

"Don't you get it? You're like Juliet. She was supposed to marry that old guy and make her family happy but instead she decided to marry the bloke she was in love with."

"Hold on, I'm a bloke so shouldn't I be Romeo?"

"No, you're Juliet."

"Why can't I be Romeo?"

"Because you haven't got the looks to be Romeo."

"Hey!" Nick protested.

"My point was" Jake continued, smirking. "Juliet gave up her duty and her family to follow her heart. As cliché as it is, you've got a choice to make, just like she did."

Nick considered this for a moment.

"Hold on, Romeo and Juliet both die at the end." He noted.

Jake shrugged. "I never claimed they were smart to fall in love." He snorted. "Those two were idiots."

"Well, that's reassuring." Nick said sarcastically.

"Glad I could help." Jake shot back. The two shared a laugh at the impossibility of the situation but then once again silence fell between them.

"What do we do next?" Jake asked.

"There's no we, Jake. I have to find so way to fix this. But I'm not going to drag you into this."

"Too late."


End file.
